Sarti

Spent a few bleary hours after work at Sarti eating dinner with the group. It was a great meal with good company, but truth be told, the majority of us were weary after a long day, and I think the travel and jet lag caught up with all of us tonight. Some more than others. I had the pleasure of finding myself next to Shapoor Batliwalla, a man of Bengali heritage like myself, but transplanted to Melbourne some thirty years ago and with a rich treasure trove of experiences to share. I enjoyed dining with him, and he convinced me to join him in drinking a gentleman's drink as he sipped Johnnie Walker black label. I rather foolishly joined him by sipping on a few glasses of bourbon, and the rest of my night was a tad fuzzy. I haven't slept properly and I'm a bit irritated with certain frustrating technology issues (a spotty wireless internet connection is a recipe for stress). Anyhow, the meal was lovely, and on my other side, I found myself catching up with Todd Sampson, the MD of Leo Burnett's booming office in Sydney. He was just in for the night, in transit from a meeting on the western coast of Australia, but it was nice to hear about what his folks have been up to lately. LB/Sydney recently won Agency of the Year in Australia, and they're the one who've produced the Earth Hour campaign I posted below. Todd also told me a little about some of their agency's rivals, so here I present a spot from another great Australian agency, Clemenger BBDO/Melbourne. Good team that does good work. But this year, top honors went to my buddies in Sydney over anyone else. ;-)